A couple of weeks ago I heard Poppy King participate in a panel discussion on doing business in the US. She is Australian.
When Poppy was barely out of high school, she invented her own line of lipsticks, marketed it, got it into the best stores and sold it to Estee Lauder. She is finishing a book about the whole experience, scheduled for publication next year. And she has a new company called Lipstick Queen.
Poppy remains very close to her original inspiration: her love of lipstick and desire for a unique color range and consistency. She has come up with a straightforward way to keep focused on the essence of her business [in the cadence of the wedding day ritual, "something borrowed, something blue…"].
Something simple
Something true
Something consistent and
Something with a point of view
Of course, the trick is, you have to understand and deliver "simple" and "true." Without these realities, there’s no need for consistency or message.
I like how Poppy has taken an inanimate object and stressed the importance of having a point of view about it. No matter how many times we have an example like this — whether it’s Lipstick Queen, Apple or a Web service — I like being reminded that putting a product out there deserves your attentiveness to what you want buyers to experience.
If you have a point of view — whatever your role in an enterprise — it will come across in every task you perform. Your point of view is where differentiation begins.
MAKE A RENAISSANCE 
I loved your post over on Found+Read (it was difficult to leave a comment there though, even though I thought I had an account). Myself and my co-founder are in a similar situation – we are worlds apart in our areas of expertise, but with just enough overlap to make it workable. I don’t think I would do it any other way. If we thought the same way, I’d be too worried about the point of view we missed!
As for the the point of view you talk about in this post, I’d posit that simple, true, consistent, and with a promise is a more powerful list. A point of view needs to carry a promise, otherwise it’s an opinion/position without much substance. Although, for great brands (and great marketing) they are probably one in the same.
LikeLike